Nov 18, 2020
CS476a Final Project —
Puzzled – a music-infused puzzle solving experience Demo The Design We’ve all had difficult puzzles we tried to solve. But being goal oriented as we are, we cannot help but feel anxious and demotivated at times.
What if it doesn’t matter even if we get stuck? What if beautiful music is played whenever you’ve made a little progress forward, or better yet, just a reward for keeping at it?…
Nov 9, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 8 —
What is the book Artful Design really about? At the concluding chapter (Chapter 8: Manifesto, a philosophy of artful design), the book finally revealed its moral teachings. Perhaps none summarized the guidance better than the principle on page 412, revised from Principle 1.15:
"Design not only from needs -- but from the values behind them. " It is a powerful call to engineers, to proactively shape their design so it truly understands humans and does a greater good than merely fulfilling its functional specs.…
Nov 1, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 7 —
As the book Artful Design makes it way through design in various mediums and dimensions, a central theme has been that technology should address all facets of our human needs. This principle is perhaps most strongly reflected in Chapter 7, social design, where Ge talks about making social tools to better connect humans and create meaningful interactions.
From Ocarina to Leaf Trombone: World Stage, Ge’s music apps have been building around the concept of anonymous social-musical participation, and how to use technology to help people experience it in new ways.…
Oct 28, 2020
CS476a HW3: Interactive AudioVisual Music Sequencer —
The Stage – A Sequencer Video Demo Screenshots Sketches (Unfortunately I did not have this idea in my three initial sketches, but I’ve attached the sprite sheet below, to illustrate the design process:
Initial Research & Motivations Screenshot from Hidden Folks
I have long been fascinated with the game Hidden Folks, a hidden object game where you’re to locate an item in a scene made of up thousands of animated objects.…
Oct 25, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 6 —
What is good game design? In Chapter 6 of Artful Design, Ge breaks down what games really are to us, by taking us through a journey of game examples analyzed under the lens of interesting models including the MDA model, the asthetics dimensions of games, the ludus vs. paidia continuum, and the state of flow theory, and so on and so forth. Well, a deeply informative chapter indeed! Needless to say, all of these models are interesting to go through, but I can’t help but think the reason they are there is to serve an ultimate purpose — to give us tools to think about what defines GOOD games, and how do we go about making them.…
Oct 18, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 5 —
In Chapter 5 of Artful Design, Ge talks about interfaces design as an aesthetics that emerges from the human-technology interaction.
Again, the core motivation here is while computers are extremely powerful, the logical, mechanical functionalities it provides will not always help make better interfaces that makes sense to a human. When we play traditional instruments, we feel connected because the interface feels natural, easy, elegant to operate on, as if part of us.…
Oct 12, 2020
CS476a Hw1 : Audio Visualizer —
Introduction The Audio Visualizer is called “The Space Race Track”. It creates an visual experience of flying through a glowing field of light towards the distance, surrounded by curved shapes on the sides, as if traveling on a magical race track in space.
Narrative & Demo Screenshots Instructions N to toggle narrative / mic input…
Oct 10, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 4 —
In Chapter 4 of Artful Design, Ge revisited the beginning of computer music, and explored what is truly unique about programming and how it can be applied to make interesting music. The guiding principle throughout this chapter, in my opinion, is the observation, or perhaps belief, phrased in Principle 4.5 (p. 181):
Design things with a computer that would not be possible without.
Previous chapters have touched on some of the unique powers of programming, namely the ability to make copies and form organic systems out of individual elements.…
Oct 4, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 3 —
In Chapter 3 of Artful Design, Ge talks about visual design in the context of interactive software. Through case studies of Ocarina and other pieces, Ge introduces many principles as lenses to inform design.
While computer programming is not explicitly stated here to keep the discussion at a general level, many of the principles here do really shine when examined at the scope of creating engaging and lively experiences out of an otherwise rigid and mechanical device that is programming.…
Sep 27, 2020
CS476a - Reading Response 2 —
For this week’s reading, I’d like to respond to principle 2.2 – “Design inside-out” and 2.3 – “Sometimes, function follows form”. These principles are highly correlated. Together, they state a philosophy where the designer respects the physical form, the medium, and the constraints therein, and use these constraints as the foundational ingredients upon which to expand ideas and invite functionalities. The important thing is to never force an idea that might not fit with the form, but rather to be super flexible with the functional goal, and aspire towards a functional design that almost seems like natural extensions of the aesthetic form.…